Bribery in Cameroonian Public Hospitals: Who Pays and How Much?

This paper deeply analyzes the characteristics of corrupters during consultation in the Douala public hospitals, as well as the amounts of bribe they pay. A survey of patients in these hospitals reveals that the majority of bribes paid during consultation is between 1,000 and 3,000 CFA Francs, interval which corresponds to the 25th and 75th percentile of the amounts of bribe paid respectively. Our estimates indicate that for the amounts of bribe paid falling within this interval, it appears that the rich, the women, the older and the more educated are more likely to corrupt practices. However, when such amounts are set outside of that interval, the amounts of bribe paid and the characteristics of corrupters are no more the same as before. This contradicts for instance to some extent some theoretical results that do not include the setting of the level of bribe. It finally emerges from our analysis that with regard to each of the characteristics highlighted, correspond specific amounts of bribe paid, which are related to the socio-professional and socio-demographic categories of patients. In particular, senior staffs and business men / contractors would be most likely to pay bribes, whatever the amount.